Cindy Sherman Untitled (Mark Morrisroe) 1980/2000 Signed Ltd Ed

Cindy Sherman
Untitled (In honor of Mark Morrisroe),1980/2000
From Rear Screen Projections
C-Print on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper
paper: 20 x 24 inches
image: 11 x 15 inches
frame: 21 1/2 x 25 1/4 inches
Edition of 75
Signed, numbered and dated in pen on verso "Cindy Sherman 1980/2000"

Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

In 1980, Cindy Sherman chose to finish the Untitled Film Stills series and begin the Rear Screen Projections series. The Rear Screen Projections commenced Sherman’s movement from black and white to color photography; since 1980, Sherman’s work has utilized color film. Untitled, (In honor of Mark Morrisroe), 1980, is an image from the Rear Screen Projections series of 1980-1981. Unlike the black & white Film Stills that were shot on location in New York, Cindy Sherman created the 1980 Rear Screen Projection series exclusively from her studio. 

Cindy Sherman's Rear Screen Projections series incorporated two cinematic techniques, the use of close-ups and projected backdrops. In the Rear Screen Projection series, Sherman adopts characters different than the ones in her Film Stills. Instead of working within the confines of iconic women in 1950's films, Sherman dons more contemporary attire of the 1970's and early 1980's. Her expressions are more confident, hopeful and self-assured; gone are the wide eyes, and fearful faces, and instead the Projections display women in scenes of confidence and liberation. 

Incorporating a technique often used by Alfred Hitchcock, Sherman posed in her studio in front of a large screen, onto which color images of various sites were projected. Each of the Projections show Sherman dressed up in character, closely cropped and superimposed atop a projected background. The backgrounds are made blurry, thereby removing any specificity. The use of a background is both similar and different from that of the Film Stills, the figure is now in an obviously artificial space using technical manipulation of the photographic medium. Sherman's use of Rear Screen Projections is similar to the projected screen effect that was  commonly used in Hollywood films. The use of projected screens in Hollywood films was both versatile and economical; no need to travel to locations, no need to build sets. Scenery rolled along, while the actors stood or sat still. 

Untitled, In honor of Mark Morrisroe is an iconic example of the progression of Cindy Sherman’s portrayal of women within her photographs. By constantly superimposing a cropped image of woman over the blurred background, Sherman removes the necessity for reading the image as plausible; rather, the background is clearly artificial, resulting in an image that is neither "real" nor "imaginary." Whereas the Film Stills were primarily focused on artificial narrative in real locations, the women in Rear Screen Projections appear to not necessarily be bound by their physical surroundings. 

Cindy Sherman Radically Changed Contemporary Art
Credit Cindy Sherman for changing the definition of contemporary art. For decades, contemporary art collectors, galleries and auction houses viewed photography as if it was "not as important" as contemporary painting and sculpture. Learn more: The Fine Art Blog, official blog, Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd. by Robert Grunder & Joseph K. Levene